by Bobbi Smith
Slade Braxton was still alive! Slade Braxton was an undercover Pinkerton agent!
"The bastard!" the Kid swore under his breath as he took aim at Slade.
The power of his rage was so great that he was physically shaking. His knuckles were white as he gripped his gun. He'd been betrayed! He'd been set up! And Nash and Johnson had paid with their lives for Braxton's deception and lies!
As the Kid thought of his two dead friends, his anger grew even more. The hanging had been faked! Everyone believed that Braxton had been hanged, too, but there he was-alive and well.
But not for long!
The Kid took careful aim, ready to put an end to Slade's miserable life. No one betrayed the Dakota Kid and got away with it! No one!
"Don't!" Zeke said in a hushed voice as he grabbed the Kid's arm to stop him. "We're going to end up dead if you fire that gun right now. There's only two of us, and there are five of them. There's no way we can pull it off and get out of town in time. Not now. Not tonight."
"Bullshit!" the Kid cursed, jerking free of Zeke's hold. "I want that bastard dead now!"
"So do I, but if you fire that gun, we ain't gonna be alive to see his funeral, and believe me, I'm looking forward to seeing him six feet under."
The Kid was past logic and past using any wellthought-out plan. He had never been so furious or so close to being out of control. He wanted nothing more than to pump bullets into Braxton. He started to squeeze the trigger.
"No!" Zeke snarled. He'd never had to face down the Kid before, but he wasn't ready to die-especially not over Slade Braxton. "Think about what you're doing! We need a new plan. You want to kill Braxton, fine, but we need to let him know who's pulling the trigger and why. Right now he thinks he's pretty smart, riding with us like he did and coming out of it looking like a damned hero. We need to think this through. We still got time. There ain't no hurry. We got the upper hand."
The Kid was filled with bloodlust. He was ready to kill. There would be no stopping him until he'd gotten what he wanted. And he wanted Braxton dead. But there was a grain of truth in Zeke's words. Somehow, the Kid managed to get a temporary grip on his fury.
"All right," he relented, "but I'm not gonna wait long. We gotta get word to Patterson that the Pinkertons are on to him. He's gotta get out of there while he still can."
They fell silent as they continued to watch what was happening inside from their hiding place by the window.
"I'll let you know the minute I hear anything more. Otherwise, I'll be close by in case you need me," Ken was saying as he stood up to leave.
He glanced over at Emily, but she was talking to her mother and paying no attention to him. He'd been hoping that she would walk him out tonight, but she didn't even look his way. The woman was maddening.
"I appreciate your letting me know about this," Slade told him as he showed him out.
When they were standing at the front door, Ken's expression grew serious.
"I've got an uneasy feeling about all of this tonight," he said, troubled.
"I'm not sure if that's good news or bad news."
"Neither am I, and that's why I mentioned it. Be careful the next day or two. It's not going to stay this quiet forever, and we have to be ready." He looked back toward the dining room, wondering if Emily was going to come out and say good-bye, but there was no sign that she'd followed them. "I'll be going."
"You keep an eye out, too."
"I will."
With that, he left them.
Emily and Loretta came out into the front hall, passing Slade on his way back into the dining room to speak with Alyssa again. They bade him good night before they went up to bed.
"You didn't have much to say to Ken tonight, Emily," Loretta remarked thoughtfully.
"He doesn't seem to be interested in me, so I thought I'd just ignore him for a while."
Her mother looked thoughtful. "Sometimes, men need a wake-up call, but Ken is different from the other men in town, being a Pinkerton and all."
"I know," Emily said simply.
When they reached the door to her room, she gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and went in to bed. A short while later, though, as she lay trying to fall asleep, thoughts of Ken plagued her-Ken in the moonlight at the way station telling her he was protecting her from himself... Ken rushing outside to protect her honor from Vernon and then almost walking off without kissing her...And Ken tonight, glancing her way several times, but never seeking her out...
Emily wondered dismally what it was going to take to break down his iron self-control. She hoped her new plan of playing hard to get worked.
With a sigh, she rolled over and closed her eyes.
The Kid and Zeke looked on in silence as Slade spoke with the lady judge for a moment. They were completely surprised when she went into his arms and kissed him.
"That's what we'll do!" the Kid said, his vicious plan already formed in his mind.
"What?"
"We're gonna use her to get to him."
"I like the way you think."
"I knew you would," the Kid said with a leer, looking at Zeke. "I'm gonna enjoy this. Braxton's caused us a lot of grief, and I'm gonna return the favor."
"We know her routine. That sheriff comes for her first thing in the morning. We'll grab her then and have time to get out of town before Braxton even finds out what happened. We'll be the trap, and she'll be the bait."
"That's right. And I want the bait alive until we lure him up there. After I get my hands on Braxton, I don't care what you do with her."
Zeke had never heard sweeter words. He could hardly wait for daybreak.
"Let's go send the telegram to Patterson. Think the operator will open the office for us this late at night?"
"I think we can get him to help us if we use the right kind of persuasion." Zeke pulled out his knife and smiled. The savage-looking blade gleamed lethally in the moonlight.
They moved off into the night, unseen and unnoticed. When they reached the telegraph office it was closed, but Ralph White, the man who ran it, lived in a room in back. The Kid stayed in the shadows as Zeke pounded on the door. The beleaguered man finally answered the summons, a small lamp in hand.
"It's after hours. What do you want?" Ralph growled, eyeing Zeke coldly.
"It's an emergency. I've got to send a wire to my brother in Cheyenne."
"Come back in the morning. I'll send it for you then." He started to shut the door in Zeke's face, thinking he looked disreputable.
Zeke wasn't about to be dismissed that way. In one swift, deadly move, he drew his knife, grabbed the man and held the blade at his throat.
"I don't think you understand just how important it is to me to get this message to my brother, friend," he snarled, as he held him in an iron grip. "Do you suppose you could help me out?"
Ralph was too terrified even to speak. He just nodded.
"Good. I like people who are easy to get along with. Let's go inside," Zeke said, shoving the man toward the counter. "It's clear, Kid."
The telegraph operator wondered whom he was talking to, and he went even more ashen when he saw the Dakota Kid slip into the office behind them.
"It's you!" he croaked, horrified, recognizing him from his wanted poster.
"You make any noise and you won't live long enough to send the damned wire!" the Kid told him, the threat evident in his tone.
Ralph hurried to sit at the table before the telegraph, and he picked up a pencil, ready to write out their message. "What do you want me to send?"
"Don't write anything down! Just send this," the Kid ordered and he started to dictate to him. "To Harlan Patterson, in care of the Railroad Express Office in Cheyenne, Wyoming."
The operator started keying in the message.
"Get out of town as fast as you can. The Pinkertons are on to you."
Ralph blinked and swallowed nervously. "Anything else? Do you want your name on it or anything?"
"No. That's it."
; The Kid and Zeke exchanged looks.
"How much do we owe you?" Zeke asked, moving to stand behind the man.
"Uh...er, nothing. This one's on me. I'm glad I could help you," he lied, only wanting them to leave.
"You can help us even more by keeping your mouth shut."
"I won't tell nobody," he promised, fearing for his very life, wondering if there was any way to save himself.
But there wasn't.
Zeke struck from behind, stabbing him savagely in the back. He slumped forward, face down on the table. The Kid went to him and kicked the chair, knocking the man to the floor. He watched him for a moment, and when the man did not stir, but lay still in a growing pool of blood, he was satisfied.
"Let's get out of here."
They put out the lamp and quit the building, making sure everything looked normal from the outside.
Inside the darkened room, Ralph moved. He could feel his life ebbing from him as his blood pulsed from his body. He didn't have long, and he had to leave something for the sheriff to let him know who'd done this to him and why.
It took all his fading strength, but Ralph dragged himself to a sitting position. He groped on top of the table and found the pad of paper and pencil he needed. His fingers were numb as he tried to write. Blood was staining everything, but he somehow managed to record the truth. He had just scrawled `The Kid' and `Patterson'-`Express'-`Cheyenne', when the pencil slipped from his hand for the last time.
"Did you get the chance to speak with Ken last night?" Alyssa asked Rob as they left her house on the way to her office the following morning.
"No, I didn't. Why?"
"He came by to see Slade and to let him know that he'd gotten a wire from Denver. It seems they've had some luck identifying the informant at the express office, and they should be making an arrest any day now."
Rob was pleased by the news, but it had little effect on the situation in Black Springs. "They hadn't heard anything about the Kid?"
"No, not a word."
He nodded in silence, knowing their ordeal was still far from over. They continued on, greeting the other townspeople as they passed them on the street. It was a typical, uneventful morning in Black Springs.
Alyssa's office was on the second floor of the building that housed the local doctor's office. The only entrance was through the side alley by way of outside stairs.
"Unless I hear from you, I'll be back for you around four o'clock," Rob was saying as they climbed the steps.
He always unlocked the door and checked things out inside for her. He wouldn't have felt right just leaving her there without taking a look around first.
And the Kid and Zeke knew it. They'd managed to watch them in their routine for a few days without being detected. They had picked the lock on the office door and were waiting inside for them this morning. It was time.
Zeke was so excited that he hadn't slept at all the night before. He'd lain awake thinking about the night to come and how much he was going to enjoy having the lady judge all to himself. Even now, as he waited with knife in hand for Rob to enter, he was smiling.
The Kid was excited, too, but for different reasons. He couldn't wait to be face-to-face with Braxton again. He'd already written the note and left it on her desk where someone would be sure to find it later on, once they were long gone.
They heard the key turn in the lock, and the door swung open. Rob drew his gun as he walked in, alert and looking for anything out of the ordinary that might mean trouble, but Zeke was crouched and hidden behind the door, ready. He launched himself at the lawman, aiming with deadly accuracy with his knife. Rob started to turn, to call out a warning to Alyssa, but he was silenced immediately, the blade striking him in the throat and ending his life.
Alyssa was right behind him. At the sight of Rob falling forward, she let out a small scream and turned to flee.
The Kid had planned well, though. He was there before she could take a step. He grabbed her around the waist and clamped a hand over her mouth as he hauled her inside and slammed the door behind them.
Alyssa struggled and kicked in an effort to free herself from his brutal hold. She tried to work one hand loose so she could get to her derringer, but it was useless. There would be no escape.
"I got her!" the Kid said with pride as he forced her further back into the office, away from the windows. "Is the lawman dead?"
"Yeah," Zeke announced as he stood up and wiped the blade off on his pants leg. He turned toward the Kid, knife still in hand. "You need help with her?"
"Get her hands tied behind her while I keep hold of her. She's a feisty one."
Zeke grinned as he closed in on Alyssa. He could see the terror and anger in her eyes, and it only excited him more. "I know I'm gonna enjoy this one a helluva lot."
He made quick work of binding her hands. When that was done, the Kid released her long enough to gag her.
"You're not going to get away with this!" she cried before he tied the cloth around her mouth.
"Little lady, we already have," the Kid told her with a menacing chuckle as he tied the gag extra tightly. "Take a look at your sworn protector there. He should have been more careful coming in here this morning."
Alyssa stared at Rob, her heart breaking at the sight of him slain by these savage killers. Tears ran down her cheeks. He had been her friend... and now he was dead. All because of her.
"Ah, look, Zeke. She's crying for him. Maybe she liked him as much as she likes Braxton... and we know how much you like Braxton," the Kid said.
Alyssa's eyes widened at his mention of Slade.
"Oh, yeah, lady judge, we know all about Braxton being a Pinkerton, and we're going to thank him in a real personal way for all he's done to us. This isn't just about you ruining the jailbreak anymore. Now, it's real personal."
She tried to run for the door. It didn't matter that it was closed and her hands were bound behind her. She had to get away! She had to warn Slade that they knew everything! The outlaws' mocking laughter followed her as the Kid easily caught up with her and slammed her back against his chest.
"That wasn't too smart, bitch," the Kid snarled at her. He looked at Zeke. "Pull his body over here, so no one can see him by just looking in the window. We need all the time we can get for a headstart."
Zeke did as he was told, dumping Rob in a corner out of sight.
"Now, check outside and see if it's clear."
Zeke took a quick look around and came back in side. "Nobody's out there. If we leave right now, we should be able to make it to the horses without being seen."
"Good. Let's get the hell out of here."
The Kid drew his gun. Dragging Alyssa with him, he led the way from her office. Zeke left last, and he took care to lock the door behind them. They wanted to slow down any possible pursuit.
Alyssa was praying frantically that someone would see them as they descended the steps. She hoped that someone might walk by and notice the men leading her away, but the street and alley were deserted. It was too early in the morning for many people to be about.
The Kid and Zeke had planned well. They reached the horses and mounted up, throwing Alyssa across the back of the third horse they'd brought along. They made quick work of tying her down and then covered her with a canvas tarp. Once they were far enough away from town, they would let her ride astride, but for now all they cared about was getting her away undetected.
They rode out at a slow pace, keeping to the alleys and the quietest streets. They didn't want to draw any attention to themselves.
The pounding pace of the horse jarred Alyssa painfully, yet bound as she was, she was helpless to do anything about it. Her mind was racing, seeking ways to escape from the killers, but for now, there was nothing she could do. She could only stay alive and wait for a chance-a chance to avenge Rob and her father.
The image of Rob lying dead before her was seared into her consciousness. She doubted She would ever be able to erase the horror of the attack from her m
ind. It had happened so quickly. Alyssa knew Rob hadn't been negligent. He'd had his gun drawn as he entered the office, but the attack had been too fast and too deadly. Zeke was every bit the amoral murderer Slade had said he was, and Rob had had little chance against his surprise assault.
The fact that she hadn't been able to help him in some way weighed heavily on Alyssa. She'd had her derringer in her pocket, but she'd had no time to use it. Guilt haunted her. Alyssa agonized, wondering if she could have done anything differently, but she could find no answer to her torment. The terror of the Kid's triumph was burned into her soul.
As they'd feared all along, the Kid had played his game and won.
"Where's Sheriff Emerson?" demanded Brett Lee, a local businessman, as he ran into the sheriff's office shortly after nine o'clock that morning.
Deputy Hawkins saw the man's panic and jumped to his feet. "He's off taking care of business. Why? What happened?"
"It's Ralph! Somebody killed him!"
"Ralph?" Hawkins was shocked. He grabbed a rifle and ran from the jail, following Brett toward the telegraph office.
A crowd was beginning to gather as Hawkins rushed inside. He took one look around and knew who'd done it. Zeke Malone had murdered Ralph, for he'd been stabbed just like the two deputies during the attempted jailbreak in Green River.
"Damn..." He knelt beside the body, but he could tell just from looking at Ralph that he'd been dead for a while. "Brett, run over to Judge Mason's office and see if you can find Rob. He escorted her to work this morning, and he might still be over there."
"Right away!" The other man hurried away in search of help.
Ken was just coming out of the restaurant after having breakfast when he saw the crowd gathering at the telegraph office. Instantly concerned, he went to see what the trouble was.
"Something wrong here?" he asked a woman at the edge of the crowd.
"It's so terrible!" she said, looking up at him, her expression horrified.
"What is?"
"Someone's killed Ralph."
"Did anyone send for Sheriff Emerson?"
"Deputy Hawkins is already in there, and he just sent Brett to find the sheriff."